[MAIPC] Invasive Management on Public Land

Wed Jan 26 06:52:42 PST 2022

Hi Nicole,
In Fairfax County Park Authority, we do not allow volunteers to apply chemicals on parkland. Though many of our dedicated volunteers have asked if they could. We have Certified Techs on staff and have to have a Certified Applicator to supervise the techs. We hold the Forest Pest certification- Category 2.

We have about 65 or so dedicated Invasive Management Area Volunteer Site Leaders. We have a list of 90 but some are paused due to covid precautions. Site Leaders go through a training process including a PowerPoint presentation, background checks, on-site visits for plant identification training, and have to do online training through our Volunteer Management System like PPE or blood borne pathogens safety training. We provide the site leader tools when they set up workdays, which we post on our webpage. I have attached an example of a site plan that our IMA Site Leaders used to have to fill out yearly. A couple of the original volunteers still like to update their site plans. Now a days, by signing up on our online volunteer management system, they are basically signing off. I also attached our sign-up sheet and the scout project agreement which any scout needs to fill out prior to implementing an Eagle Scout project on parkland.

Staff help at volunteer sites by doing the chemical application where its cut stump treatments or a little spraying of celandine and other plants that volunteers cannot manage manually. I have also hired a contractor to follow-up on sites after volunteers have brought down the invasives and removed the debris. It makes it a lot cheaper.

I wonder if the Blue Ridge PRISM might be a source of volunteers for the community?

I hope this is helpful,

Patricia Pearl Greenberg
Ecologist II
Invasive Management Area (IMA) Program Manager
Natural Resource Branch
Fairfax County Park Authority
Office: 703-324-8673
Fax: 703-324-3996
patricia.greenberg at fairfaxcounty.gov<mailto:patricia.greenberg at fairfaxcounty.gov>
(She/Her/Hers)

ISA Certified Arborist, MA-6067A
ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D81298.F1B3C8D0]<https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/invasive-management-area>

From: MAIPC <maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org> On Behalf Of Gover, Art
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 4:57 PM
To: Nicole Hersch <nicole at nrvrc.org>
Cc: MAIPC Listserve <maipc at lists.maipc.org>
Subject: Re: [MAIPC] Invasive Management on Public Land

Hi, Nicole.

I think your question #2 will be state-specific.

I can offer my understanding of PA.

Terminology:

Certified Applicator: someone who has passed the state exam for a particular application category (PA has 26), and works for a Pesticide Business as a public or commercial applicator. A Pesticide Business is necessary to obtain the required liability insurance.

If by "volunteer" you mean a non-credentialed applicator, then they can only apply under the direct (present, in communication) supervision of a certified applicator licensed in the relevant category. In PA, the work you're describing would likely be Category 10 (Rights-of-way, Non-crop) (or Category 5 - Forest Pest Management, or Category 23 - Parks and Schools).

In PA, if a municipality wanted a volunteer corps of applicators, they would either need their own applicator (and business license and insurance) to supervise (and train), or have a commercial applicator (with their own business license and insurance) supervise (and train) them. Someone involved has to be certified and liable.

If the municipality has a business license, they could register applicator technicians, trained in a specific curriculum by their certified applicator. These registered applicator technicians can work autonomously.

It's a lot of work. I think there's a good chance an experienced commercial applicator could do the envisioned work on a for-hire basis fairly quickly and for less expense (figuring training, admin, etc) than engaging volunteers.

Be well.

Art Gover

Fruittown Land Stewardship Services

On Jan 18, 2022, at 12:32, Nicole Hersch <nicole at nrvrc.org<mailto:nicole at nrvrc.org>> wrote:

Hi All,

I have a couple of questions that I am looking for some advice on. First a little background.

One of the Towns in my region has acknowledged that invasive species are a huge problem, but they haven't done anything about it to date and aren't exactly sure where to start--it seems daunting to say the least (not to mention Town staff is already at capacity-with no resident experts on payroll).

The main idea on the table is that a small area is chosen as a demonstration site for invasive removal and potentially native planting, to be executed by community groups who have a capacity for on-going efforts. Long-term maintenance of the site is of concern. The Town has been burned by a lot of short-term projects which create additional long-term work for staff.

1. Does anyone have volunteer groups complete an MOU when performing long-term invasive management on public land? If so, would you be willing to share it?
2. Has anyone used volunteers as certified applicators on public land? If so, could you tell me about that?

Any thoughts on this topic in general are greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Nicole

--
Nicole Hersch, ASLA
Regional Planner II/Community Designer

[https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1QiqvsPd1jTVj4gKSHT35CtL98HcAlFPv&revid=0B-eFJd959WWEY09LL2ZpczdWUGl4M1QrZXlqbDZJTUZoeWhzPQ]

New River Valley Regional Commission
p: (540) 639-9313
6580 Valley Center Drive, Suite 124
Radford, Virginia 24141
nrvrc.org<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnrvrc.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7CPatricia.greenberg%40fairfaxcounty.gov%7C9400a53332224826d15308d9dacd7f89%7Ca26156cb5d6f41729d7d934eb0a7b275%7C0%7C0%7C637781398417703848%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=k6axJ3aeiNqXzo%2FcMd1lIMYM6b2UJ6nXoJKDyMDJhNE%3D&reserved=0>

_______________________________________________
MAIPC mailing list
MAIPC at lists.maipc.org<mailto:MAIPC at lists.maipc.org>
http://lists.maipc.org/listinfo.cgi/maipc-maipc.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.maipc.org/pipermail/maipc-maipc.org/attachments/20220126/313f81b4/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 8060 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://lists.maipc.org/pipermail/maipc-maipc.org/attachments/20220126/313f81b4/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Group Volunteer Sign-in BlankSheet2.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 227334 bytes
Desc: Group Volunteer Sign-in BlankSheet2.pdf
URL: <http://lists.maipc.org/pipermail/maipc-maipc.org/attachments/20220126/313f81b4/attachment-0003.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2021 IMA Site Plan_Royal Lake.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 4713361 bytes
Desc: 2021 IMA Site Plan_Royal Lake.pdf
URL: <http://lists.maipc.org/pipermail/maipc-maipc.org/attachments/20220126/313f81b4/attachment-0004.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: scout project agreement 2021.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 131674 bytes
Desc: scout project agreement 2021.pdf
URL: <http://lists.maipc.org/pipermail/maipc-maipc.org/attachments/20220126/313f81b4/attachment-0005.pdf>